Guarded Secrets
by GoldenMoonshine
Summary: Sequel to Guarded Lies. Everyone assumed that Edward was gone for good. But if the teen is gone, how come there's someone walking about with his face, even if he has no memories of even being Edward Elric? And is he even human? EdRoy
1. Chapter 1

**Wow...if any of you find any of this confusing, please tell me what to add. D: I can't figure it out.**

**Okay! This is the first chapter to the sequel of Guarded Lies. I guess you don't _have _to read the previous story to understand this one. I don't know...o.o**

**I know this was supposed to be a oneshot, but it's going to be a full story sequel. D: I'm sorry! Also, it won't be updated for a while after this because I have to get surgery done tomorrow. Fun... :(**

**I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist! Whee!**

* * *

_Darkness. That's all he saw. Edward Elric wasn't exactly a fan of the dark, but lately his mind had been a jumble of emotions, ranging from everything involving happiness, anger and sadness. But sadness seemed to be the worst._

_He had somehow ended up inside of the gate. Weren't you supposed to end up in some crackpot place, such as hell or something?_

_Edward sighed, tired eyes sweeping the area of what he could see. __He couldn't help but stare back at the many violet eyes staring at him. But as he fell through the everlasting dark abyss of the gate, he slowly came to realize that among all of the violet, his own eyes were with them._

_The eyes of a homunculus._

_

* * *

  
_

"No, I told you to have those shipments in by Friday, Havoc. Let me remind you of the rather tight schedule we're pulling..." Roy pulled a sheet of paper out, waving it under the man's nose.

"You said that I could hold it until Monday, Mustang. The new uniforms are going to have to come first." Havoc's cigarette bobbed as he spoke, and Roy gave an exasperated sigh.

"Fine. Whatever. I'm going to the mess hall to grab lunch." He informed, before pushing passed Havoc. The man stopped him.

"Would you like me to come with you? I was about to make my way there myself." He said. Roy stopped, seeming to consider his offer.

"No, I'd rather not. I have paperwork that I'm taking with me and I don't want to be disturbed." Roy replied, before heading off down the hall.

Secretly, though, he wasn't going to the mess hall. He was going to the library.

* * *

_Someone was calling to him. He knew it. What was his name? How long had he been here?_

"_**Edward, listen to me." **The voice sounded awfully deep. And familiar._

"_...Is Edward my name?" Edward asked, eyebrows furrowing. There was silence for the longest time._

"_**You don't remember who you are?"** The normally witty and sarcastic essence actually sounded concerned. Edward didn't happen to notice, however._

"_No," He answered flatly, "who am I?" He didn't really expect the big voice to answer him. "Rather..._where _am I?" There was silence for a long time once again._

"_**You're an Alchemist. Edward Elric. But now is your chance to prove who you really are." **The voice boomed. Edward looked over to the side, a look of indifference taking over his features._

"_Like how?" He asked. He didn't particularly care about what the Gate was telling him. But he snapped back to attention as it spoke again._

"_**You weren't ready to die. But seeing as how you've already transformed here, you're going to have to be sent back as is. You will be considered something that wasn't meant to be. ...Find the one you love, Edward Elric."**_

_Edward's eyes widened. "Wait, what? What did I transform into? Hey! I feel...normal...if this is normal, but how will I know who I love?" The Gate had already gone. Edward squinted as light started pouring around him, and he was finally forced to succumb to unconsciousness._

_

* * *

  
_

_'Edward Elric died two weeks ago, December 23rd, 1916. Cause of death is suspected to be a car accident. Case has been dropped as of January7th, 1917.'_

"Damn it, it has _not_ been dropped! _I've_ been investigating it." Roy mumbled in annoyance. So far, he hadn't found anything on anyone who could have been tied to the teenager's death. Roy sighed, standing up and putting the article back in it's designated cabinet. His lunch hour was over anyways. He shoved his hands into his pockets, heading back to headquarters.

The walk back was rather uneventful, which almost worried Roy. Usually Central was buzzing with commotion. Yet barely a few people were out.

Roy shivered, pulling his coat tighter around himself. He wasn't _that _cold... But better safe than sorry. Roy paused as the crunching of snow met his ears. He looked up, coming face to face with a rather feral looking blond.

And it looked _remarkably _like Edward. But...his hair was so pale...almost white. And his eyes—a rather unusual color, Roy observed—were a deep violet. The boy was glaring daggers at him, the only thing keeping him covered was an old black trench coat that looked to have seen better days.

"Edward?" Roy worked his jaw after getting over his initial shock. The teenager shook his head slowly. He ventured closer, until he was just centimeters from the man's face. Then, one question came upon his lips:

"Who are you?" The question was rather forced, and the teen sounded as if he hadn't spoken in a long time. But it was Edward's voice. Roy was sure of it. A slightly nauseating feeling welled up inside of him.

Edward was _dead. _Roy had seen the body. This boy was _not _Edward. Roy cleared his throat.

"Colonel Roy Mustang, at your service." He said, tone stern. A flash of emotion flashed through those eyes, but it was hard to figure out what the boy was feeling. The blond made a sound of acknowledgment, before turning. Roy grabbed his wrist before he even had time to get three feet away. "Where did you come from?" He asked. The teen froze, confusion written on his face all of a sudden.

"I came from somewhere," He mused, "how rather interesting..." He sounded very sarcastic. Roy felt himself getting annoyed. "I'm taking you back to headquarters, sir." He had to know if this teen had any relation to Edward. He looked too much like him for it to be coincidental.

As soon as Roy had made it back to headquarters, everybody was aware of the teen aged look-a-like of their former comrade. Roy had many more problems to worry about, however.

"Second lieutenant Hawkeye. I can't believe I'm about to ask this of you. But I want you to accompany me to observe the grave of Edward Elric." Riza stared at Roy. What was the man _saying_?

"Roy Mustang, are you asking me to take part in a grave robbery?" She asked, sounding anything short of amused. Roy matched her tone as he jerked the blond forwards. Riza stared at the teen, and his gaze studied her; roaming over her form with such an intensity that it made her feel very uncomfortable.

However, he did look almost identical to the elder Elric. Then, her decision was made. "I will accompany you, sir." Roy nodded, relieved.

"I'm sorry, Second Lieutenant...I just want to make sure..." He paled as she nodded. "Until then..." Roy paused. He had to keep an eye on the kid. But should he really...? He shook his head, venturing on. "I'm taking this...teenager back with me to my home. I might not come back, so be at my house around five thirty."

The teen had stayed completely silent through most of this. He didn't like this...Mustang person. But something was just _off _about the man, and he just couldn't figure it out...

Before the blond had time to even think about his predicament, Roy was already guiding him towards his apartment. Edward didn't doubt that the man was any more confused than he was. The man had called him Edward...and that voice had called him Edward.

Edward...something. He couldn't remember the last name. He coughed then, stumbling to keep up with Roy.

"Slow down, and let go of me! You're hurting my arm!" Edward yelled irately. Roy came to a stop, looking back at the teen.

"I'm sorry. Just...please don't run." Roy let go of him, and the blond rubbed at the redness that was forming.

Of course he wouldn't run. This man seemed to be the only one who knew anything about him. But the thing was, the man thought he was somebody else. If he looked like this...Edward person, then why did the man doubt him? The blond looked up at the sound of a key turning inside of a lock and looked up.

"It's small, but it will have to do. I don't have a humongous salary or anything." Really, Roy would be living in a nice house with a picket fence if he had the choice. But money seemed to be of the essence nowadays...

The teenager cautiously followed him inside, taking a look around. Roy stopped him. "I want you to go take a shower. I'll leave some clothes in the bathroom. After you're done, come to the Kitchen." As Roy started informing the blond, he couldn't help but notice the teen's constant looking around.

"What are you doing?" Roy asked, frowning at the teen as his eyebrows drew together.

"I've been here before...I think..." Edward wandered to the bathroom, glancing in. "Here." He stated, nodding. Roy felt confused as the blond wandered back over. "Do you mind if we talk before I get cleaned up? I have a lot of questions I'd like to ask."

Roy, not knowing what else to do, nodded wordlessly. Edward nodded, already going to the Kitchen. Roy walked with him, frowning. He had a lot of questions to ask him, himself.

But what could the teen possibly want to know?


	2. Chapter 2

**FMAddict: I'm sorry this is so late. D: I'm having terrible writers block with this one. I'll try to be better. ToT**

**Thanks everyone for reviewing! n.n I hope you guys can forgive this lateness...**

* * *

Riza Hawkeye found herself outside of Roy's apartment around five forty. She had run into a rather bad looking crash site, and had to stay the extra ten minutes just to wait for it to clear. Funny, car crashes had spiked in numbers ever since the Fullmetal Alchemist had died because of one. She hesitated, wondering if she should knock just yet. She could hear Roy and the teenager talking inside. Finally, she knocked, stepping back to wait.

"...memories back, and—Oh, Captain." Roy opened the door, stepping back to allow her entrance. Riza accepted, instantly coming face to face with e violet eyed teenager from before. Edward's eyes roamed over her form again, before giving a snort of annoyance and tossing his head to the side. It was an unusually familiar gesture that Edward often did. Roy came back, crossing his arms.

"What if we _can't_?" The young man spoke up. Roy sighed, "Then we don't." He replied. Riza blinked, shifting away from Edward out of caution. She didn't like the teenager. He was much more...well, sexually aware than the kid. _Highly _aware, in fact. She cleared her throat.

"I think we should get going." She said. Both men turned to her. Roy nodded, but Edward hesitated. He then jerked a thumb at Roy, frowning.

"Why does that _bastard _have to come? Ever since I got here, he's been asking me questions I don't know the answers to! And if I ever ask a question about who I was before, he can't answer me either!" He said, crossing his arms. Riza rolled her eyes.

"Now, now, Edward. Colonel Mustang is only doing his job." She said. Roy offered an melodramatic sigh, before taking a step towards the door.

"Let's just go already. I want to get this over with as quickly as possible."

* * *

So this was where the trio could be found almost a half hour later, two of them holding shovels and the last one looking around irritably.

"I still don't see why we have to do this. If I'm here, there shouldn't be a body." Edward mumbled. Roy waved a hand at him as they approached the graves.

"Oh, hush you. We need no comments from the peanut gallery."

"The peanut gallery?! Damn it old man, you're such a dick!"

"Edward! Watch your language." Riza warned. Apparently, this woman wasn't too keen on the idea of bringing the teenager along. Roy found the right grave then, looking up.

"It's here. Let's get digging." He said. Riza nodded, readying her shovel. Edward rolled his eyes, plopping down on the ground crossed legged and crossing his arms. After several minutes of just digging, Roy sat back.

"Break," He panted, wiping perspiration from his forehead. Riza nodded, setting her shovel down.

"I don't get you guys," Edward said bluntly, "all this, and there's probably not even a body down there!" He said. Roy shot him a glare, before holding his shovel up.

"You want to complain? _You _dig, then." He said, hefting himself out of the hole. Edward sighed and jumped in, starting to dig. "You people are too old to be digging, anyway." He said hotly. Riza scoffed, following after Roy.

"Well then, you can dig the rest of the hole since you're so full of youth." She said stoically. She then settled down next to Roy. Edward just shrugged, starting to dig. After a few minutes, Edward stopped.

"I...I hit something..." He said. He stood there for a few seconds, before pitching forwards and knocking against the dirt wall. He promptly vomited then, grasping at his stomach. Roy's eyes widened and he grabbed the teen.

"Easy!" He said, lifting the blond to sit on the edge of the grave. Edward panted heavily, leaning to the side and vomiting blood. Something was _in _that coffin. He didn't know how he knew, but he sure as hell _felt _it.

Roy nodded to Riza, and together they dug the casket out and pulled it from the hole. Roy collapsed against it, eyes narrowed.

"Damn...surely there's...something in there. It can't...can't be empty..." He mumbled. Riza nodded, also trying to regain her breath. Edward had recovered, and was now making his way over to the casket. This was the moment of truth. Without much hesitation, he threw the lid off. Roy was surprised at the little effort the blond had supplied to the task, but the expression the teen wore was priceless; surprise, shock, and disappointment.

"There's a body in there. I must not be him." He mumbled quietly, slumping to sit against the casket and sighing heavily. Another let-down. Great. Roy grunted, getting to his knees and peering into the box.

"Means nothing. I just wanted to rule this out. You're a very unique person, Edward. _Nobody _could imitate you. I'm _sure _it's you."

_Why else would my stomach do flip flops when I look at you?_

Edward sighed. "You say I'm this teen prodigy that got into the military when I was just a kid; the Fullmetal alchemist, hero of the people. But I sure don't feel obligated to take that title again." He said, running a pale hand through his flaxen locks.

"We'll find out why you're here." Roy promised. Despite the radical personality change and the eyes, Roy was absolutely sure that this teen was their Edward.

"Got any six's?"

"No."

"Damn! Are you sure? I've called out every number by now!"

"Well, everything except Aces." Edward grinned, holding five aces up. Havoc's jaw dropped.

"Th-That's impossible! There's no way that there are five aces in this deck. I own it, and I've never seen that many."

"Well, I'm magic." Edward said, smirking widely.

"Or you're cheating." Jean replied. They both looked up as Maria Ross came in, a thick packet held under her arm. She raised a brow at the two, then shrugged.

"Good Day, Havoc! ...Edward." She nodded towards the teen, noticing his wandering eyes. Just as she was about to move, Edward turned and stomped back to Roy's office, entering and slamming the door.

Havoc and Ross glanced at each other, both silently wondering about the teen's odd behavior.

Roy looked up as Edward slammed the door behind himself, moving over to the couch and sitting down. His expression seemed to be pissed off. But he had just been content playing cards with Havoc, hadn't he?

"I don't get it," Edward mumbled, hand splayed out over his face, "nobody leaves an impression on me." He looked up, glaring at Roy. The man in question frowned.

"What do you mean by that?" He asked. Edward shifted his position to lay on his back, tucking his hands behind his head.

"Well, before I got here, I was...somewhere...I don't know where I was. But this thing...the gate. The Gate told me who I was. He also said that he was sending me here to find the one I loved. It said I wasn't supposed to die." The blond replied. Roy stood up, obviously encouraged by the new information.

"Why didn't you tell me, Edward?! We have something to go—," He stopped as he remembered the blond's words.

_He also said that he was sending me here to find the one I loved._

Roy swallowed thickly. So Edward had already loved somebody? For some reason, this saddened Roy. But he couldn't be mad at the blond for that. He had to support him.

"Alright. We'll just have to find that person, then."


	3. Chapter 3

Me: Okay, guys. The late update (No, REALLY late update) is due to stuff that's been going on in the family lately. My parents got divorced, and I've just been trying to take care of my mom. But don't worry, I am gunna put more effort into finishing these stories for you guys. Well, for those of you who are still reading this. u.u I wanna thank everybody who favorited/alerted me on this story. Tell me what you guys think, and I'll do my best to update soon.

* * *

The next day was riddled with fruitless attempts as Roy took Edward across town, letting him meet with every female he had known in his past life.

"Edward, this may be a bit of a touchy subject," Roy was saying as he took a bite from his baked potato, "but have you considered that maybe you might be...I don't know, gay?" Edward paused in drinking his orange juice, snorting in amusement. "Ah, yes! That's got to be it, I'm a flaming homosexual!" Edward's expression turned to one of annoyance. "No, really. How the _fuck _am I supposed to know?" He grunted.

"Well, let's be open minded about this...I've let you meet everyone and their sister. The only female we haven't met with lives towns away from here, and it'd most likely freak her out if we asked her out here." Roy spoke, taking a sip from his coffee.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever old man." Edward looked off towards a table seating several young ladies, gaze traveling over their forms before quickly losing interest. He just felt no _attraction, _whatsoever. Amber gaze moved to sit back on the man across from him. "I'll consider the possibility." He said finally.

"Good. Because frankly, I'm getting extremely close to giving up, honestly." Roy replied, standing from his seat. Edward did the same, yawning rather loudly. "All I want is to sleep." He grumbled. The duo left the cafe Roy had taken them to, to eat dinner. The drive home was silent, except for the occasional comment from Edward about the weather.

It was pretty much the same upon arriving home. Edward mumbled a "Good night", before going to sleep on the couch where he usually stayed. Roy only offered a nod, going to his own room. Maybe they could really pick up the search tomorrow. After slipping into bed, he placed his hands behind his head.

He was feeling hopeless. They seemed to be getting nowhere. And the longer they searched, the seemingly more irate the teenager became. It was becoming a bit of a chore, really. Roy drifted off to sleep shortly following that thought, intent on getting a nice, restful sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Roy could be found in the Kitchen, dressed only in a pair of black pajama pants. He was leaning on the doorway, newspaper in one hand and a coffee in the other. Edward sat at the table, picking off small pieces of a bagel slathered in cream cheese and eating them. Roy broke the silence with a cough, turning the page in his newspaper. Edward gave a frustrated sigh, getting to his feet. He didn't care if he startled the older male or whatnot.

"Edward? What are you doing?" He asked as the teen came over and pulled the newspaper out of his hands. "Testing something." The teen replied. Before Roy could even think about asking what the boy was doing, Edward had leaned forwards, molding his lips against the older man's.

Roy stood, stunned and unmoving. What was he supposed to do? He was afraid of shoving the teen away, but he didn't want to make a move to show he was enjoying it, either. Edward was stunned as well, surprised at how...right it felt in kissing the man. After a few moments he pulled away, standing there quietly and thoughtfully for a few moments. "Yes. It's definitely a male we should be looking for. I actually _had _a reaction to that, unlike the time I kissed that black haired woman." Edward's tone was quiet as he stepped away from Roy. "You should get ready for work. It's 8:14." That brought Roy out of his trance with a loud, "Shit!" before the man dashed off to his room.

Edward rolled his eyes, before folding his arms across his chest and going into the living room. If he didn't have to go hang out with military personnel, he certainly wasn't going to. He waited until Roy left, having to insist many times that he would be fine alone.

Well, he _was_ fine for the first hour. After that, however, his thoughts drifted, settling onto how soft Roy's lips had been against his own. How much he had enjoyed it. How his heart had fluttered, and most of all, how it had felt _so _right. "God dammit, no!" Edward got up from the couch, storming out of the house. Kissing the guy hadn't effected him at all! Not even a little! Or...

He refused to believe it.

Edward wasted no time in taking the elevator to Roy's office floor upon arriving at headquarters, stalking down the hallway. Dammit, this wasn't even right! Something was wrong! He stopped at the end of the hall, eyes catching sight of the black haired male almost immediately. Havoc and Riza stepped aside, allowing him to trudge right up to Roy, both handling a look of confusion. Edward didn't care what Roy was saying to Falman; that could wait. Edward grabbed his shoulder and spun him around, standing on tiptoes and closing the distance between him and his former superior officer.

The office fell heavily silent. Roy felt his stomach flutter as he felt himself glued to the spot. Edward didn't hesitate to deepen the kiss, passionate and angry. After a moment, Roy gathered his senses and pushed the teen away rather harshly as an interesting shade of red painted his entire face.

"Edward, what the hell?" The office held it's silence as Edward leveled a glare at Roy. "I don't get it," Edward mumbled, violet eyes narrowing dangerously, "I'm not supposed to feel this way! You can't possibly...I won't accept it! A bastard like you..." Why did he feel this way? It wasn't supposed to be Roy! Surely he was mistaken. But his heart...the thing beating inside his ribcage was telling him differently.

_'Maybe it's just because he's male. Yes, that's it...' _Well, that's what he _wanted _to think. He placed his hand to his head as he backed up, taking a seat in the nearest chair and shaking his head slowly. "Edward?" Roy asked, sounding a bit concerned despite the teen's assault on him, "what's the matter?" Edward chose to ignore Roy, head bowed in thought. What the hell was wrong with him?

"Fullmetal!" Edward's head snapped up then, meeting Roy's gaze. "I..I can't do this," The blond then stood up, quickly albeit clumsily making his way down the hall. Roy was half in mind to follow him, but decided against it as Riza cleared her throat and reminded him of the hefty stack of paperwork he was two days late on signing. Roy sighed, returning to his office. He'd check on Edward when he got home.

* * *

Roy's plans seemed in vain as he stepped into the house. Dead silence met his ears. Hanging his coat up, Roy made his way into the Kitchen, onyx eyes scanning for any trace that the teen had come back. But no; he was nowhere to be seen. Roy took a quick look around the home, confirming that the boy wasn't there. He went back to the Kitchen, picking his phone up and dialing Riza's number. Only a few moments ticked by before the woman picked up. "Hello?"

"Edward's gone." No greeting; Roy was getting straight to the point. "Gone?" Riza repeated. "Roy?" Of course she knew it was him. "Hold on, I'll be right there." She said. After she hung up, Roy moved to the living room and dropped onto the couch. Why would Edward have run? Was it something he said? What if something happened to him? Maybe he had hurt the teen, or maybe the blond had figured something out. He briefly ran his thoughts over what had happened that day.

The kiss had been a surprise, yes. But Edward had run off like he had just found out something terrible. He had confused Roy greatly. What if he...

Roy's eyes widened in realization, gaining a small ounce of hope.

What if he was the person Edward was looking for?

After a good few minutes, Riza showed up to help Roy look for Edward. They started off sticking to the general area, but even after nearly six hours of searching every inch of the town, they both came up empty handed around midnight. Roy made his way to return home, more worried than he had been earlier. Edward was nowhere to be found. He kept walking as he passed by a coffee shop, miraculously still open. After weighing the situation, Roy went in to buy himself a cup.

He settled into a booth at the very far back of the shop a few minutes later, nursing the steaming mug as his thoughts started drifting back to the teen. He was sure Edward was still here somewhere. Maybe they weren't looking hard enough.

"God dammit Edward, where _are _you?"

* * *

Violet eyes scanned the area a bit sluggishly, not paying attention to the person in front. Edward was barely managing to listen to the man that was dragging him through a rather dark and secluded alleyway. "The hell am I even...who are you, anyway?" Edward had no clue where he was, or who this guy was. He had just run into a rather attractive young woman outside of a pet shop, and the next thing he knew he had woken up in some warehouse just outside of Amestris.

Now, not even thirty minutes later, he was being dragged through several dark alleyways that only seemed to be getting narrower and narrower. Still, the guy kept silent, even when they stopped. Edward opened his mouth to ask why they had stopped, when he was suddenly lifted off of the ground and taken up some kind of fire escape. He tried to struggle, but he was too lethargic from whatever had been given to him before.

"Yo, I'm here!" They stepped through a window, and Edward was dropped just inside the window so his captor could climb in after him. "Welcome home, pipsqueak!" Edward ignored the words, gazing around his surroundings. Why was he in an empty apartment?

"Envy, what took you so long?" Lust's voice was heard from across the room, and Envy's brow twitched. "We almost got caught by that damned police guy! I had to disguise myself as the guy's goon just to be able to leave with this twerp!" Envy placed his hand rather roughly atop Edward's head, rattling it around.

"Though I gotta say, kid delivers one hell of a punch!" He chided, before striding over to lust. "Give me the goods." He said, holding his palm out. Lust sighed. "You're always wanting to jump into things, aren't you Envy?" Lust flipped her hair over one shoulder, before dropping a few, red colored stones into the homunculus' hand. Envy grinned almost joyfully as he moved back over to Edward, crouching down in front of him.

"Now kid, just swallow these and you'll be part of the family!" He said, taking Edward's hand and dropping the stones into his palm. Edward's gaze narrowed. "Why do I wanna listen to you? You kidnapped me, you psycho." He replied bluntly. Envy frowned. "Hey, don't be a bad sport! You'll get everything you want. I promise." Envy's smirk widened as he watched Edward debate over the stones. "Everything?" He asked. "Everything and anything, I swear!" Envy replied. Edward looked back down at the stones.

"Okay...guess I can trust you, then." Edward then popped the stones into his mouth, swallowing them.


	4. NOTE

HOLY CRAP GUYS so I just looked in my inbox and realized people were still reading this story (like a doh-doh brain—d'oh!) so, I'm pleased to let you know that the show will go on! Expect the next chapter to be out within the week! (Also, doesn't my stuff seem to go really fast paced? XD Aw well, you guys seem to like it anyway.) Have a nice day!


	5. Chapter 4

**GM: Lol. Did I say within the week? I meant later today. XD I'm getting right down to it and starting it back up. I want to thank those that can forgive me for temporarily abandoning this story. Really, don't be afraid to message me and drag me through the mud about it! A writer should never leave their readers and reviewers unless it's for reeeaaally good reasons. Oh, and this chapter is rated M. Very slightly due to Edwards mouth.**

**Also, I should probably explain a few things hence reviews.**

**MustangTaisaNoKoibito said: Hey that was a good chapter, although im still a bit confused on the whole grave thing because if edward came back then how come there is still a body in the casket?**

**Answer: Well, Edward's body is still Edward's body. The gate gave him a physical form once he crossed over, and it was _based _(based being the keyword here) on his features he had as a human. It's a homunculus's body, just not a complete one. Think of it as having the process an embryo would. The embryo forms from tiny little cells, and eventually it grows into a full-fledged fetus. Everything has an 'in-between stage'. This is what Edward's 'new' body is.**

**Very Swampeh said: There's gotta be some connection between the body and Ed, since Ed spent some time vomiting all over the coffin.**

**Answer. Yes, you'd be right. :] Edward's soul is in the new body. It's inhabiting it. But the soul was once bound to that decaying human body, and because of this, the soul has a connection with it. It will never get to re-enter the body, but the feeling of need that the connection emanates makes his new body physically ill if he gets too close to it.**

**GreedxEd said: This is very interesting. It has me questioning why Ed died or went away in the first story if he wasn't suppose too...**

**Answer: Indeed. That is exactly why Roy feels the car crash was an accident. There was no ice on the roads, traffic was being careful, so why would he have gotten hit in the first place? Makes you wonder... ;)  
**

* * *

A week had passed, and there was still no sign of Edward anywhere.

The search hadn't dropped a bit. Roy and Riza were still searching, as well as the rest of the military. Once Roy had realized that his two-person search party wasn't enough, he had gotten every person he knew involved.

Still, nothing was turning up. There had been a few sights of a strange blond male walking around Central. The first time Roy had gone to investigate, it had opened another case and the search of Edward Elric had been placed on temporary hold.

There were alchemy circles drawn in blood showing up in random places all over Central. There was no explanation for them, and they were _so _detailed—nobody even had a clue as to what they meant. Not even Roy, who was a pretty skilled alchemist.

After that first week had passed, Roy became more determined than ever to find Edward. As important as the case at hand became, Roy just couldn't concentrate on it. All he seemed to think about was whether Edwas was alright—alive, even—or not. He elicited a tired sigh, running his fingers through his hair and standing from his office chair. Paperwork was building up, but he still blatantly refused to do it.

"Sir, there has been another siting!" Hawkeye bustled into the room, thick orange envelope tucked under her arm. "We have been requested to the crime scene—the blond haired stranger has been caught."

Roy's attention focused on Riza. "Let's go, then." Although his words were filled with authority and confidence, he felt annoyed and tired by the case. He shoved his chair under the desk, striding to the door. "Grab my extra pair of gloves and an umbrella. It looks like it might rain." Roy said, turning to look at his first lieutenant.

"Sir." Hawkeye acknowledged, before stepping around him.

* * *

The streets were busy today, people moving from and to work, some on their lunch break, or some just getting out due to being couped up from the cold weather. Both Roy and Riza's footsteps crunched through the snow as they made their way to the scene of the crime. This time, it had been stated that the scene had been made just outside of the pet shop, and the perpetrator had been detained.

Like before, the same transmutation circle met the eyes of the two military personnel as they approached the shop. This time, it was on the door. Riza moved ahead, grabbing the door and holding it open for Roy. The man nodded in thanks, stepping into the shop. Riza moved in behind him.

The smell of the shop wasn't actually that bad. The strong scents of cats and dogs were present, but it was obvious that you would get that smell from such a place. Roy ignored the excited barks and meows of the animals, stepping forward to the counter.

"Good evening, sir," Roy greeted the man at the counter, "I hear you have the suspect detained. Where is he, might I ask?" Roy just wanted to get straight to the point.

The man seemed to understand the urgency, adjusted his small spectacles atop his nose. "I have him in a large kennel in the back. You'd be surprised how hard it was to detain him for being so small of a man..." The shop owner shrugged, but jumped as a loud crash was heard. Not even five seconds passed before there was a flurry of commotion, and the man was on the floor sprawled onto his back. The "blond stranger" was straddling him, hands around his neck.

"Small!" He snarled, "I'll give you small, you bumbling old codger! I'll blow your lips up! You won't even dare say that word ever again to me!" The blond was outraged.

Roy came to a quick realization of just who was straddling the man, and strode forwards to grab a fistful of the flaxen locks and drag the teen off of him. "Edward!" He barked, so many emotions in that name. Anger, hurt, confusion, worry—where had the young man _been_?

It only took two seconds for Edward to realize what position he was in, and as quick as a flash he had turned and grabbed Roy's wrist, yanking his hand from his hair and moving around him. He kneed him in his back, forcing the older man down to his knees. "Who the hell do you think you are, old man? You got the wrong guy." The teen dug his knee harder into the man's back, quickly sending him onto his stomach. In the time it had taken Edward to disable his former commanding officer, Riza had pulled her gun out and cocked it, and was now aiming it at the back of the teen's head.

"Move away from him or I'll shoot." she said seriously. When the teen didn't move, Riza issued a warning shot into the ceiling. The teen jumped, moving away from Roy slowly.

Roy slowly got up to his feet again, fingers poised to snap. "Sir, you are under arrest for defiling a public service, as well as assaulting military personnel." He knew this was Edward; why was the kid acting like he didn't know him?

He'd get answers. Willing or unwilling, he would get the teen to tell him what was going on.

* * *

"Where were you last Thursday evening?" Roy sat in the small interrogation room, the only thing separating him and Edward being a small table and a slate holding his wrists.

Edward's mouth twitched in annoyance, and he spit across the table at Roy. The man dodged the flying saliva, reaching forwards and grabbing the teen's jaw. He squeezed hard, and the blond grunted in pain. "I could break your jaw in a second. Tell me where you were." Edward studied those onyx orbs, his own eyes narrowed in fury and hatred. There was anger in those dark eyes, but the blond could swear he saw hurt there too.

"I was staying in an apartment." He stated, vaguely. He shoved Roy back with his restrained hands, propping his feet on the table.

"What apartment? Were you with anybody?" Roy pressed, fueling the teen's irritation toward him.

"Yes. I was with my family." He stated bluntly.

Roy lifted a brow. Family? "Who is this family? Elaborate." He replied.

"It's just this group of people. None of us really look alike, but we have the same eyes." As Edward explained, Roy gained a clear picture as to what "group of people" Edward was talking about. "Homunculus..." Roy breathed, eyes wide. Wait a minute. A homunculus! One of _them _had done this to him! "Edward, they're the enemy! Why in the world would you ever consider _joining_—,"

Roy was abruptly interrupted by the blonde. "Enemy! Yeah _fucking _right, bastard! Don't make me laugh. The only enemy around here is _you._" Edward snarled venomously. "And if you ever call me Edward again, I'll cut off your balls and spoon-feed them to you."

The dark haired man knew the blonde wasn't joking. It actually hurt him to see the young man act like this. Sure, Edward was a loud mouthed idiotic brat, but he was never this nasty. His Edward would have never went to this extreme. "What am I to call you, then?" He asked after a moment.

Edward shrugged in reply. "My family calls me Pride. I fucking hate it." The blond seemed aloof about the subject. After several minutes of heavy silence, Roy stood from his seat.

"Alright, _Pride,_" He said, quietly, "I'll be back to talk to you tomorrow." He didn't need this anymore. Rather, he couldn't _handle _it anymore. What was he supposed to do? Things had been progressing fine. They were going to find the one Edward loved so he would know what to do next. All he wanted was the best for the blond. And yet, things were not happening the way he wanted them to happen. Now, Edward had no clue who he was, and he was one of _them—_having some unexplainable grudge towards their military.

As Roy left the building and headed home, he couldn't help but wonder what he was supposed to do now. He would obviously help Edward; he loved the blond. Why wouldn't he help him? But the kind of help the now homunculus wanted...Roy wanted no part of helping him with any of that. He sighed discontentedly, stopping at the end of the street to wait for the cars to pass so he could cross. After a moment, he was pulled from his inner thoughts.

A lot of those cars were headed in the direction of headquarters. He considered going back to see what the commotion was about, but decided against it. He hurried across the street, stopping as he made it to the other side and doubled over to catch his breath. As soon as he straightened back up again, he felt a physical pain erupt in the back of his head, and his vision went black.

* * *

"_**Roy...The flame alchemist. Fancy meeting you here."**_

"_What the hell?" Roy didn't know where he was. It was...white. Everything was. There was a huge door behind him, and a white being sitting before him. It was ominous, missing it's facial features. In fact, every feature it should have had was missing. "Where am I?"_

"_**In the gate. Well, your soul is, anyway. Is there a reason you have traveled to see me, flame alchemist? Is it about the fullmetal alchemist? Edward?"**_

"_I'm not sure wh—wait. You know Edward?" Roy was baffled. How did this spirit-like being know Edward?_

"_**Aaah, yes. So you're the one." The being grinned. "You're the one he's after." He spoke, then the grin vanished. "It seems that the alchemist has run into problems...his memories have been distorted. Locked away in the very depths of his soul."**_

_The faceless being knew that this was a problem. With Edward having no memory, he couldn't succeed in his task._

"_**You'll have to help him," the being ultimately decided, "help him remember who he is."**_

"_How would I do that?" Roy asked, taking a step forwards. The being grinned at him again._

"_**Show him that you care, flame alchemist. You are the one he loves, and only you can bring those memories back. When his other half comes to accept you as well, he will become whole again. The fullmetal alchemist will be completely whole once more."**_

_The words seemed so promising, that Roy knew at once that he had to do it. He would help Edward._

"_**Roy..."**_

_He knew that he could do it._

"_Roy..."_

_He loved Edward._

"Roy."

_He would do anything for him._

"Roy!"

Roy sat up, immediately startled from his dream-like state. He was in a hospital room, in a bed with his head bandaged tightly. "What's going on? What happened?" He frantically tried to understand where he was and what had happened.

Riza stood next to him, looking down at him with a touch of concern. "Edward escaped, sir," she explained, "he attacked you." she added.

"Dammit..." Roy grunted, sitting up. "I have to find him. We have to find him. Get me released, now lieutenant." He demanded.

"But sir, you—," Riza's words were cut off by Roy's biting tone.

"That was an order, lieutenant!" He said, gritting his teeth as he swung his legs over the side of the cot. He had a massive headache. That little monster would pay. When he found him, he was going to beat the shit out of him.

But he would have to find him first.

* * *

Sooo, there you have it. Next chapter will be updated tomorrow or day after tomorrow, depending on what I have to get done. Hope you guys liked this chapter. :D


	6. Chapter 5

**GM: Holy crap guys! I made my deadline! Wooo! Lol, okay, anyway, here's the next chapter~**

* * *

Edward burst through the door of the apartment, howling and cursing. "Envy! Envy you bastard, where are you?" the teen was furious.

"What'dya want, pipsqueak?" Envy's head lolled to the side to look at the blond. He sat up from where he was laying on the floor in the bare living room, stretching his arms out.

"You said I could have anything I wanted," Edward strode up to the other homunculus, ignoring the 'small' remark, "and now I want to know what the hell is going on. Who am I, and what relation do I have to the military?" Edward pulled a silver pocket watch from his back pants pocket, showing it off.

"Where did you get that?" Envy asked, blatantly ignoring the question.

"I knocked a Colonel out and took it from him. Answer the goddamn question." Edward snarled. They had to know. They had to at least have an idea of who he was.

"I don't have to tell you jack shit, Pride," Envy sneered, "we saved your ass. You're obligated to stay in our little family." He added.

"Well, you're a—," Edward had to stop where he was, doubling over and retching. A thick, red substance spattered onto the floor.

Envy lifted a brow. "You're still puking up the stones?" He asked. Edward could only nod through his fit, brows creasing at the strain that his body was under. "That's not possible. It only takes three days for your body to absorb the stones! Surely you're not rejecting them. Unless..."

Edward stopped after a few minutes, and as soon as he did, Envy reached out and snagged his jaw. "You still have it! You still have your soul, don't you?" The normally mellow homunculus was pissed.

Edward jerked away from him. "Don't touch me!" He hissed. "I'm leaving. And none of you are going to stop me! You hear?" Edward turned on his heel, leaving the room.

Envy snarled. "Hey! Get your ass back here, Pride!" He bellowed, following after him.

"Fuck you!" Edward called back to him flippantly. As Envy followed after the blond, the slam of a door was heard and Envy knew he had left.

"Dammit!" The dark haired homunculus swore, striding to the door and forcing it open.

The blond was already gone.

* * *

"I want every inch of Central searched. Include the borders." Roy spoke as he walked, Riza writing down notes in a folder as she followed the Colonel.

"Sir, we can't expect to find him so soon after he disappears. He could be gone for weeks." Riza was trying to reason with the man, yet Roy wasn't listening. He kept on walking, shoulders straight and head held high.

"It's my job as Colonel to put a stop to anything that falls into my lap. That's mu duty, lieutenant. I was told to put a stop to the case of the strange blond alchemist leaving mysterious circles all over Central. So that is what I'm going to do." Edward was a threat. How big of one, Roy didn't know. Injuring an officer was one thing; if the teen was out for blood, it could be a different case altogether.

"Hey!" The voice came from a few yards back, yet Roy placed the voice almost immediately. He whirled on his heel, arm outstretched and hand poised to snap. The colonel's eyes narrowed at the sight of Edward moving quickly in their direction.

"Finally showed yourself, did you?" Roy asked, almost venomously.

Edward slowed to a stop. "Listen, I don't care what beef you have with me," he stated, "but my supposed 'family' isn't answering any of my questions, and you seem to know who I am." He crossed his arms as Roy lowered his hand. The older man stepped forwards, stopping just a foot away from the blond.

"So, you're coming to our side?" He asked.

"What choice do I have?" Edward replied, irately. "No answers from that side, so this side seems to be my best option."

To this, Roy smirked almost coldly. "Good choice." He said, then cocked his arm back, letting it pitch forward and strike the teen in the cheek. "_That's _for earlier!" He said as Edward stumbled back, landing on his ass in the snow.

"You bastard..." Edward slowly got to his feet, spitting blood from his mouth. He glared at his former superior officer, yet made no move to hit the man back.

"Right then. Lieutenant, head back to headquarters and update the situation. I have to have a word with Pride here." As Riza nodded and disbanded from the group, Roy grabbed Edward's arm and trudged ahead through the snow.

"Hey! Let go of me and answer my damn questions!" The blond hollered, trying to pull away from Roy.

"Not until we get to my house." Roy grunted in reply, still tugging the small alchemist along. Edward grumbled, a few less-than-friendly words hitting the older man's ears. When they made it to the house, Roy opened the front door and shoved Edward inside, closing the door behind him as he stepped into the entryway.

* * *

"How could you!" Lust was furious; it was taking all of her willpower not to spear Envy right on the spot. Gluttony stood beside Lust, not sure what to make of the conversation. "Do you know how angry Mother will be if she finds out what happened? You just let an important piece of the puzzle slip through your fingers!"

"It wasn't my fault! He decided to leave, and by the time I got to the door, he was nowhere to be found! We might as well just give up on the twerp. His soul is still rejecting the stones." Envy crossed his arms, gritting his teeth. "We don't have to have him on our side. He's useless, anyway. The only worthwhile thing he's been doing is leaving those transmutations around so we can blow the main military headquarters up. The fuhrer won't know what we're doing until it's too late."** (1)**

"I don't care, Envy. That was reckless, and Mother won't be pleased." Lust replied. "We need to find a way to get him back."

* * *

"Edward. What would possess you to trust _Envy_, of all people?" To say that Roy was pissed was a bit of an understatement. "Tell me why, Ed!" He slammed his palms on the table, yet it didn't seem to scare the blond or surprise him. He just sat back, arms crossed and feet propped up on the other side of the table with a scowl on his face.

"I don't know. The earliest thing I remember is running into him outside. He told me about a deal. That he could help me with what I was looking for. I told him to prove it, but he said that he couldn't. So I refused him, and he didn't like it so he made me go with him by force. On the way there, he just kept talking about how I was on the wrong side and how the military wasn't going to help me. He said they were planning to use me as a weapon of the state." Edward replied, shrugging.

"And you bought that garbage? Really, Ed?" Roy's anger was simmering, yet it was being replaced by frustration.

"He told me the red stones would make me powerful enough to gain whatever I wanted! With those stones, I could get my memory back! All of it...but instead, all it did was make me forget everything else. I don't even know who I am or if I have a family, or if I had a life before that. But you said you knew, so now it's your turn to speak up." Edward stared hard at Roy, daring him to say otherwise.

Roy sighed. "It'll be a long explanation. Just..sit back and listen, and hold the questions until I'm done." He went on to explain everything he knew about the blond; the failed human transmutation, the two brothers' journey to restore their bodies, their many downfalls, and the day they succeeded to restore Al's body, and how his body had never been restored. Then came the car crash, as well as everything he knew of after that. By the time he finished explaining things, it had been a good hour.

"So...Alphonse doesn't know I'm alive..." The memories seemed to fit to him. Even while not having them, he could feel the connection. Already, images from his past were manifesting in his mind. "And why don't I have my automail anymore?" he added.

"Alphonse isn't aware, no. He moved back to Risembool a few weeks after you passed. As far as your automail goes, I can only assume that the body you're in was created by the gate, based on your previous physical make-up. So, since the automail wasn't actually part of your original body, it wouldn't have been copied." Roy shrugged.

"I see..." Edward nodded his head, wincing at the action. "Damn, think you could have picked a different place to assault me, Mustang?"

Roy took a moment, studying the damage. "Must have hit you harder than I thought." He mumbled, yet he showed no regret or guilt over it. This angered Edward, but he said nothing.

"Bastard..." Edward tossed his head to the side, snorting angrily.

"Ah. I'll get you some ice." In truth, the bruise would probably get quite bad overnight. Roy was sure he would have to keep an eye on it. When he returned with a makeshift ice pack, he dropped down to one knee and held it up to Edward's face. "Sorry," he apologized, "I wasn't intending to hurt you that badly."

Edward could tell he was telling the truth, but that did little to quell his agitation. He lifted his own hand, resting it against Roy's own. It was a gesture that he felt oddly comfortable with, despite hating the man.

"I don't like you." He said, more so to convince himself than Roy. "I'm here because you haven't done anything to keep me from my goals." He added.

Roy 'hmmed' in reply, eyes slipping closed for a moment. "I'll help you." He said.

"What?" Edward replied, blinking.

"I'll help you get your memories back. I'll help you reach whatever goal you are looking to achieve. I'll even put it first priority, if you want." Roy said.

Edward was speechless. He gaped like a fish, trying to come up with a reply. "...Why?" He finally asked, pink tongue darting out to swipe across his dry lips, "why would you help me...? You're just my former commanding officer." His voice felt tiny; like he was miles away from his voice. It was a big deal that Mustang was saying that he was helping him. What had he done to deserve the Colonel's help? What would he have to do in return?

"I care about you, Edward. I care about you a lot." Roy replied. His eyes were still closed, but he seemed at peace. "I'd do anything to make sure you were happy." He added. Edward's eyes grew huge, and he just stared at Roy as his throat went dry. Surely this man...

"_No!" _Edward snarled, shoving Roy's hand from his face. "Stop toying with me!" Roy's eyes opened in surprise at the outburst. Edward stood abruptly, towering over his crouched form as the ice pack fell to the floor. "You can help me, but you'll _never _care about me! Stop pretending that you do! I would _never _accept someone like you! Ever!"

Every word that flew from the teen's mouth hit Roy hard. It stung, crushing his chest with every syllable. Edward didn't care. He didn't care that he, Colonel Roy Mustang, would do anything for him. He was ignoring his feelings, taking them and throwing them right back in his face.

"Edward, I..."

"Shut up! You fucking disgust me!" Edward shoved him, storming passed his trembling form and heading for the back of the house.

* * *

He was scared. Why did Mustang have to say those things? Like they were lovers or something! They were strangers, and that was the end of it! Edward slid to the floor, sitting with his back pressed against the wall. But..if he truly did feel that way towards the man...why was his heart tearing in two? Why did it hurt so badly? "Dammit.." The blond swore as unwanted tears spilled from his eyes, rolling down his cheeks and splattering to the floor. He was just so confused... "Dammit...! Dammit, dammit, dammit!" His fist clenched, and he turned to strike the wall behind him. He struck the wall, over and over again until the dry plaster cracked, lines splintering out like a spiderweb around his fist. He pulled his fist away, looking down at the blood covering his knuckles. He clenched his teeth hard, before burying his face into both of his hands and starting to sob.

He didn't care that his face and the floor were being sullied by his blood. He didn't care that an overwhelming feeling of nausea was sweeping over him in a massive wave. Roy was wrong. He was _wrong, _God damn it! A scream tore from his mouth, strangled and quiet. He then shoved his hand over his mouth as bile rose to the back of his throat. He staggered to his feet, stumbling out of the room and down the hall. He wasn't surprised to see Roy sitting at the table, arm wrapped around a bottle of whiskey. The man sure did take rejection hard. Edward shook his head, nearly tripping over his feet trying to get into the bathroom.

He crashed to the floor hard, both bile and remnants of the stones being emptied from his gullet. The bile kept coming even after several minutes, and Edward was becoming scared that it wouldn't stop. He jumped when he felt fingers move through his hair. Someone was touching his hair. The long blond locks were brought together into a sloppy ponytail, and Roy crouched down next to him to rub his back.

"Wh-Why.." Edward's shoulders trembled as he retched and coughed, before another round of vomit rose up the back of his throat. After several agonizing minutes, the stuff stopped coming up, the remnants of the stones floating in the toilet. Edward trembled still, both exhausted and disturbed by the contents that had poured out of him. He backed up from the toilet, head whipping around when his back made contact with not the wall, but something else entirely.

Roy silently pulled Edward into his lap, wrapping his arms around the teen's shoulders and burying his face into his neck. Edward made no move to push the man away, instead pressing himself further against the older man. "R-Roy, I didn't mean to—," he croaked, eyes wide and shaking.

"Shh." Roy shushed him, pressing his lips to the blond's neck. "Don't say anything. I forgive you." The words were slurred, but Edward was grateful to hear them. He shifted, leaning his head against the older man's chest. They both fell asleep like that, Roy's arms wrapped around Edward while Edward drifted off listening to Roy's steady heartbeat.

* * *

**(1) In this story, the fuhrer (as pride) abandoned the homunculus family to supposedly do it "his way". So he's also an enemy to the homunculi, which means the military as a whole is their target.**


	7. Chapter 6

**GM: This chapter is sort of short. The next chapter is currently being worked on.**

**I noticed that the story isn't really getting much attention at all, but I'm gunna finish it anyway. More so for myself than you guys, as selfish as that is. :P**

* * *

The next morning was spent in an awkward silence. Edward had been woken up after being violently shoved out of Roy's lap. The older man pitched forwards, utilizing the toilet to vomit. Edward just looked at his back groggily, before the events of the night before came back to him. He pushed himself up off of the floor, grunting as pain lit up in his hand. Ah, right. He had smashed it against the wall.

He rinsed the dried blood off in the sink, before grabbing a few sheets of toilet paper and wiping the water off. He then tossed it in the trash and headed for the kitchen, leaving Roy to empty his stomach in peace. He went about making himself something to eat, easily locating the bread and the toaster. He popped the bread into the toaster, before going to the table and sinking into his seat.

It was then that his eye rested on the closed bottle of scotch. Huh... He reached for it, grabbing it and pulling it closer. He hesitated, before uncapping it and taking a swig of it. As soon as he swallowed the vile liquid he gagged, face scrunching up. Fucking disgusting. How could Roy drink this stuff? Shrugging, he gave it another try.

Normally, one would learn that if you don't like something after the first few tastes, you wouldn't start to like it. Edward's stubborn flare was reigning though, and he was determined to find out why Roy had drank this stuff until he seemed absolutely out of it. He didn't notice when Roy came into the kitchen about twenty minutes later. This was why, when Roy took the bottle away from him, that he yelped in surprise.

"Edward," Roy growled menacingly, "you drank the rest of my scotch. You're underage, dammit! Why did you do that?" The raven haired Colonel was obviously pissed, but Edward just offered him a lopsided grin. Roy groaned, recognizing every sign of inebriation. The teen was _drunk, _only off of not even a pint of scotch. "Such a lightweight." He grunted. He went over to the toaster to the cold toast, taking it and going back over to Edward. He shoved the bread into the blond's mouth, and Edward bit down on it.

"Whadis thas' shtuff?" Edward asked through the bread.

"Scotch. You drank all of my scotch, you bastard." Roy grumbled.

Edward finished the toast, before looking around the kitchen. It seemed to be moving...but wasn't he sitting down? "Roy," he breathed, becoming panicked, "the room's moving." Roy just looked at the blond as he tilted to the right, and fell out of the chair onto his ass. Edward giggled hysterically. Roy sighed, ignoring him and walking around him. He needed aspirin. After obtaining the aspirin, he swallowed it dry before going to his room to get dressed.

After stepping out of the room in his uniform, he stole a glance at the clock. He was already five minutes late. He looked at Edward, who was now laying on his kitchen floor singing. Quite off key, most likely.

He couldn't leave the teen here. He was underage, and he had drank. What if he left the house after Roy left for work? It was his fault, leaving the alcohol within the teen's reach. "Fuck," he swore, before going over to Edward. He pulled the teen to his feet, pulling the ponytail out of his hair and starting the braid the flaxen locks. Riza would kill him. She may not have been too fond of Edward's attitude, but she did know that the kid was still just that: a kid. One not old enough to drink.

Roy fumbled with the teen as he guided him to his room, looking around in his guest room drawer. He was pretty sure he had a spare outfit of what Edward usually wore—being the black tank, leather pants, and red jacket. He couldn't remember why he had the outfit, but the jacket had been left there the last time he'd seen him. He pushed the teen through getting dressed, before dragging him out to the car and shoving him into the backseat.

He drove to work, ignoring Edward's constant murmuring and humming as his headache increased. The aspirin was doing little to bring him comfort to the fact that he now had to watch over an inebriated teenager. He didn't understand Edward's actions. Scotch tasted horrible, so why had he been insistent on drinking it?

"Edward...why did you drink my scotch?" He asked. The teen stopped singing, turning his head from the window to look at Roy. "I wan'ned to," he stated loudly, "was tryinna find out why yeh like it so much. I still dunno why yeh would like it." His speech was becoming slurred, Roy noticed.

Roy groaned, shaking his head. "It's a stress relief, Ed." He replied.

Edward ginned at him, eyes shining brightly. "I love ya, Roy. I really do."

Roy tensed as he pulled up to Central command. The blond didn't mean it. He was drunk. Knowing this, it hurt Roy more. Why would the blond say something like that? He wasn't exactly smashed, so he still had at least some sense. Right? "Come with me." Roy shoved the car door open, pocketing his keys and shutting the door back. Edward stepped out of the vehicle, stumbling after Roy. Roy slammed Edward's door, before striding forwards up the steps.

"Roy! Roy, wait fer me yeh asswipe!" Edward started up the stairs, not surprisingly losing his balance and pitching forwards. Roy's hand shot out and grabbed his braid, backtracking and hauling the boy up the steps. Edward whined. "Yer hurtin' meee." He whined, trying to pull away from the man. Roy shoved him once they were off of the stairs, digging his hands into his pockets as he headed into the building.

It took an extra ten minutes to get to his office, having had to practically carry Edward there. He was well passed annoyed by the time he made it, ignoring Hawkeye's dangerous look as he entered the small office and shut the door behind him. Edward went over to the couch and plopped down, watching Roy as the man took a seat behind his desk.

Fifteen minutes ticked by with Roy doing paperwork and Ed merely staring at him. Right after Roy finished the first stack, Edward had gotten up and rounded the desk. Roy looked up at the teen standing next to him. "Yes...?" He asked. Edward didn't say anything. He grabbed onto Roy's shoulders, turning and hooking his leg over the other side of Roy's leg and sitting in his lap.

Roy dropped the pen in his grasp, not hearing it clatter to the floor as blood rushed over his ears. A blush was steadily moving to cover his face at a fast pace, yet he found that he couldn't shove the blond off. Edward just smiled at him, the smile seeming..off, in a way. It seemed innocent enough, yet...

His thoughts stopped there as Edward pressed his lips to his own. All thoughts crashed to a halt in his mind, and he found himself reeling. Edward was kissing him. Why? Why would he do this? Again, Roy couldn't order his body to move, much less try to dislodge Edward from his lap. Edward's tongue darted out, shoving passed Roy's lips and into his mouth. Roy could feel Edward's tongue inside of his mouth. This wasn't right. Edward was drunk, he didn't know what he was doing.

As much as Roy tried using this excuse to justify the teen's actions...

Edward's tongue finally withdrew from Roy's mouth, and he moved his head to nip at his earlobe. When the teen started rocking his hips against him and his breathing grew heavy, Roy knew he couldn't let this go on. Edward was turning him on during work, and that couldn't happen. And the teen had no idea what he was doing.

"Edward, stop," Roy said, quietly. He tried to ease the teen off of him, but Edward was insistent.

"Roy, no, I need this," the blond whined.

"Not like this. Not like this, Edward." Roy wouldn't let his own desires get in the way of his thinking. Edward just shook his head, hooking an arm around Roy's neck. His other hand traveled down, and Roy felt Edward's hand grab him through his pants. He elicited a gasp, having to gather as much self control as he could not to jerk to his feet and shove the blond to the floor. This wasn't right. It wasn't right, damn it!

"Let me," Edward whispered, "we both need it now."

Roy wouldn't use that as an excuse. He couldn't do this. No matter how turned on he was, no matter if Edward was turned on too or not. He couldn't let this happen. "Edward," he swallowed, "wait. Wait until you're sober. If you still want to, we'll...we'll do it." The man doubted Edward would be doing this if sober.

To his surprise, Edward didn't answer him. He looked down, finding that the teen had fallen asleep. He gave a sigh of relief, before standing up with the blond and carrying him over to the couch. He was glad that he had passed out. Roy didn't have that strong of a will when it came to his sex drive. Thankfully, his morals surpassed it this time. He returned to his desk, starting to think about several, boring things in attempt to make his problems a little less noticeable.

The strength Roy held to get him through the rest of his work was admirable; he hadn't even stopped for lunch. Concentrating on paperwork finally did it's job at some point, and nobody seemed to think anything had gone on.

When Roy started to tackle the last of his paperwork, Edward awoke with a groan. It wasn't long before he was off of the couch, stumbling in a haze as he felt something awful bubbling in the pit of his stomach. It was rising fast. Roy shoved his waste basket towards the teen with his foot, and Edward nearly slammed to the ground trying not to miss as he started heaving. The sounds of vomit being upchucked met his ears, and Roy chuckled.

"Serves you right." He said. Edward just coughed as the last of the vomit came up. He wiped his mouth off shakily, glaring up at Roy.

"Fuck you," the blond spat heavily, dragging himself to his feet, "I'm never drinking that shit again. Ever."

Roy finished signing the last document, getting to his feet and stretching. "Alright," he said, "we need to get home. You need some aspirin, and I'm starving."

Something about the mentioning of food had Edward right back to the waste basket.

* * *

"Sir, I do not take kindly to the fact that you let a teenager in your home become inebriated." Roy had sent Edward ahead, and was now facing Riza's wrath as he knew he would be.

"I know, lieutenant. But I'll have you know that it will never happen again." He knew his charm didn't work on her, so he wasn't even going to try. "I take full responsibility for it. I shouldn't have even picked the scotch up in the first place." Really, drinking with a teenager in his house had been a pretty stupid move. Then again, he hadn't expected the teen to think twice about the liquor. Edward had never shown any interest in alcohol before... "If you'll excuse me, lieutenant. I now have a hungover teenager in my car and need to get him home."

With that said, Roy turned and headed out of the building, not paying any mind to whatever else Riza had to say. Honestly, he just wanted to get home.

The drive was understandably silent. Edward was riding up front, arms crossed as he leaned against the car door. He was looking out the window, watching the scenery go by. Roy couldn't see his face, so he had no idea what the teen was thinking.

"So," Roy started, trying to think of something to say, "did you have a nice...dream...?" he finished off lamely, cursing himself. Edward went red in the face, stammering out something that Roy didn't quite catch. "Come again?" He asked.

"I said sorry for coming onto you earlier...and thanks for not letting me do anything." Edward repeated himself. He was beginning to doubt his feelings toward Roy. The more he hung around him, the more confused he became. As much as he thought that he hated the man, something inside of him told him that wasn't what he wanted. Somewhere deep down, he..he..lov—

Edward paled several shades as the thoughts invaded his head. No, no, he couldn't...he, did he really...? But there was no denying it.

He loved Roy Mustang.

The revelation instantly made him sick. It wasn't right. The homunculus side of him was rejecting it harshly, yet his soul knew the truth. There was no denying those feelings. "Roy..." He looked over at the man as he felt dread bubble up inside of him. Something was happening to him. He could feel it just on the tip of his brain, something he was trying to fight with everything he had.

Roy became concerned and pulled the car over to the shoulder, turning as Edward gripped his head. "Edward?" He asked, reaching out for the teen. Edward shook violently, and just when he thought it had hit it's worst, a horrible, gut-wrenching pain exploded in the back of his head. He threw it back, a loud, hair-raising scream overtaking him.


	8. Chapter 7

**GM: Omg guys, this is seriously where I'm stopping the chapter at. You all will _murder _me, just saying. I'm really tired. XD The next chapter will be up tomorrow most likely, as I've struck my mojo mine and will be writing most of tomorrow. Also... it is coming to an end. Soon. If I may make a prediction, I'd say there are two chapters left. Uh...yeah. I'd love to thank everyone who reviewed. :D Reviews make me happy. I would have loved to put more on this chapter, but I wanted to get done with it, and I'm very sleepy. The chapter itself is probably really crappy...but it will be revised tomorrow. Anyway, enjoy~**

* * *

Roy was unsure of what to do as Edward slumped forwards against the dashboard, unconscious. "Ed!" His senses came crashing back to him, and he pulled Edward away from the dash. "Edward, please wake up. Ed!" Not knowing what else to do, Roy re-situated the blond in his seat and turned the car around, gunning it all the way to the hospital.

He wasn't sure what had just happened. What had happened to make the teen just...collapse like that? And that scream; he knew that sound could only be produced when someone was in pain.

Roy couldn't really remember getting to the hospital, or having Edward taken to a room. All he remembered was what had happened in the car. Now he sat in the hospital room, listening to the muffled voices of the two doctors that had reviewed Ed's file and tests.

Finally, one of the doctors came in. "It appears that we couldn't find anything wrong with him..." Roy swallowed as the doctor kept talking, but he wasn't really listening. No, something was wrong. He was sure of it. He nodded his head as the doctor finished talking, looking back to Edward as the man left.

"Shit, Ed. Wake up..." He moved closer to the bed, lightly slapping Ed's cheek. He then sighed when it had no effect, sitting back. What was he going to do? The doctor wanted to discharge him, yet he wouldn't even wake up.

A few moments later, a nurse came into the room. "Okay, I'll be checking his blood pressure and temperature and all that, then he'll be set to go!" The brunette woman seemed entirely too cheery. Roy grunted as he got to his feet.

"Fine. Excuse me." His tone was stiff as he went into the bathroom, letting the door shut behind him. Just when he turned on the tap to wash his hands, quite a few noises met his ears. First a sort of rustling sound, then the sound of a door opening and closing. Roy rinsed his hands, before drying them off and going back out into the room.

Edward was gone.

"Shit!"

* * *

_Edward woke up with a groan, dazed and with a slight headache. "What the..hell...?" He mumbled almost incoherently. Where was he?_

"_**Welcome, Alchemist. Edward."** The blond turned, looking around but not seeing anyone._

"_Who's there?" He asked, a bit cautiously. "And where am I? Is this...is this the gate?" He couldn't believe it. How had he gotten back to the gate? "Am I dead?" He asked, panicked._

_A laugh resounded from all around him within the white void, amused. **"You are not dead, Edward. Although, I can't vouch for your soul's health, what with how many times you've been here."** The voice went quiet as Edward got to his feet._

"_Why am I here?" The blond asked, looking up into the never ending white shroud. There was quiet for a few moments._

"_**Your soul has left the vessel,"** The voice finally replied, **"all you can do now is wait."** The voice faded, and Edward shook his head._

"_Wait for what? Hey, tell me!"_

_He received no answer._

* * *

"You have him?" Sloth was waiting for Envy's return, her piercing green eyes clearly hiding her agitation.

"Yes," Envy grunted as his form changed, morphing from the form of the cheery brunette nurse to his former form, "I am never impersonating a damn nurse ever again." He hissed as an afterthought. Although easy and convenient, the disguise was a pain in the ass because everyone expected nurses to be uppity little girls.

Envy placed the body on the floor next to him, before straightening and crossing his arms. "We may as well get this over with," he snapped, "the body won't stay alive very long."

"Lust! Envy has returned with Pride." Sloth called to the other homunculus, who appeared moments later.

"Good." Lust replied, staring Envy down. She then scoffed, before moving over towards the unconscious flaxen haired male. "His soul isn't in there anymore, correct?" She asked. When Envy nodded, she produced three red stones and forcefully shoved them into the boy's mouth. At first, nothing happened. But after a few moments, the body stirred and the stones were swallowed.

Violet eyes fluttered open, lost as they moved around the room. His gaze then fell to his lap, his form unmoving.

"Awaken, brother," Lust spoke, taking the chin and tilting it up, "Pride...welcome back."

"Pride..." The name rolled off of the boy's tongue, getting familiarized with it. "I am...Pride." He acknowledged this.

"Yes, welcome to the family, Pride." A woman stepped forward then, clasping her hands in front of her. "From here on out, Edward Elric is no longer part of this world. I want you all to remember this, children. Especially you, Pride."

"Who are you?" Pride asked, head lolling to the side in a bit of a clueless fashion.

"Why, I'm your mother Pride. Dante." Dante then circled around Pride. "Alright...let me explain things to you. There is a building that we will blow up. It has caused us a lot of trouble, as well as the people working there. We will need you to activate the main circle, Pride. Can you do that?" She asked.

Pride thought about it. Something just felt..._wrong _to him. However, who was he to question his life? So slowly, Pride nodded his head.

"I can do it," the blond replied, "what time?" He added.

"Right now."

* * *

"I can't understand it. He just...disappeared, lieutenant." Roy sat in his office, having returned to headquarters from the hospital. He sat on the leather couch, fingers threading through his hair listlessly. "I don't know what to do. I don't know where to start looking or anything."

For the first time in a while, Riza could hear Roy's voice teetering on the edge of hysteria. Wordlessly, she moved away from his side, coming back several minutes later with a box of tissues. Roy didn't make a move to grab them; instead, he moved to press his face into his hands. He wouldn't cry, but oh, how badly he wanted to.

After what seemed like several hours but was really only minutes, Roy sat up and took the offered box of tissues. He wiped his eyes and took a deep breath, quickly regaining his composure.

"Alright, sir. We should organize a search group, and—," Whatever Riza was saying was cut off as they both felt a tremor beneath their feet.

"An earthquake...?" Roy's brows knitted tightly as he got to his feet. Riza drew her gun, moving closer to him.

"Colonel, I don't believe that this is an earthquake," her steel gaze traveled to the window, "the ground is too unstable." She explained.

Roy nodded once. "We should go take a look outside."

Honestly, it felt like the building was fixing to collapse. As they both headed out of the office, Roy noticed that his other subordinates had already fled. He and Riza moved to the elevator down the hall, using it to get to the bottom floor. They both stepped out and headed for the entrance, moving quickly as the foundation shook more violently than before.

Already, soldiers had evacuated and were now trying to locate the source of the unstable foundation. Roy felt the ground tremble underneath his feet, and those sharp, coal black eyes shot up. "Major Armstrong!" He called to the Strong Arm Alchemist.

Armstrong was quick to notice Roy's attempts to get his attention, and the large man moved over to the Colonel. "Yes, Colonel?" He asked in his usual booming voice. His tone showed that he knew this was no time for pleasantries.

"This may sound like a crazy favor to ask of you," Roy said, readying himself to relay the wild request to the Major, "but can you break the foundation right where I'm standing?" He asked.

Armstrong did indeed find the request odd, but wasn't against it. 'If you feel that it is important and relevant to the situation, then yes." He replied. Roy stepped back, and Armstrong brought his arm back, sending it forwards with such force that it slammed into the ground hard. Alchemic sparks erupted from the steel gauntlets that covered his knuckles, crumbling and breaking the earth down below the touch.

To both Riza and Armstrong's amazement, the earth gave way to an underground tunnel. Roy nodded once. "Thank you for your help, Armstrong. Lieutenant! Follow me." Roy then effortlessly jumped into the tunnel, landing in a crouch. Riza wasn't far behind him, jumping down after him. As Armstrong left to go help the others, Roy and Riza started to move through the tunnel.

"Sir...may I ask how you knew?" Riza spoke up after several minutes.

"Knew what, lieutenant?" Roy asked, fingers poised in front of him to snap if he needed to. He had no idea who or what was down here.

"That there were tunnels under here." The blond woman replied.

"Ah. Well, I can't really explain it...leave it to lucky guessing, if you will." Roy replied, coming to an abrupt stop at the sound of a gun cocking. "Lieutenant...?" He turned, but she was on her toes as well. It hadn't been her.

"Well, well...if it isn't the Colonel and his pet." Envy stepped around the bend of the tunnel, a smaller figure following after him. "Looks like I do have good fortune today." He smirked, before rushing forwards, grabbing onto Roy's shoulders in a swift motion, hopping into midair and twisting his body, kicking the gun from Riza's hand. He then apprehended her, grabbing both of her arms and shoving her to the ground.

"Lieutenant!" Roy turned, rage flaring up in an instant. "Let go of her, you monster!" He hollered, barking the demand desperately. Riza winced as Envy pressed his foot down on Riza's back.

"Oh, you won't have to worry, Mustang." Envy laughed almost jovially, before a wide, nasty smirk stretched across his face. "Now Pride!"

As Roy turned, a loud shot rang out through the dark tunnel way. He stumbled, feeling white hot pain embed itself into his chest. He then started falling, and it all seemed to go into slow motion as he went straight for the ground. His thoughts were going a mile a minute however, almost making his head explode from the pressure. But, even though his vision was beginning to blur and grow black, he distinctly saw the face of the person who had shot him.

"Ed...ward..." Those were the last words from his mouth, before his mind went to black and he crashed hard to the ground. Riza lay stunned, eyes wide at the sight.

"You..." Her voice was low and dangerous. With unexpected strength, she shoved Envy, causing him to stumble back. In a blind rage, she grabbed her gun and just started shooting, not even caring if she missed. Envy just laughed hysterically at her attempts.

"Pride!" He called as another bullet made contact with his chest, "time to go! We have more...important matters at hand." He was happy, just to get one annoyance out of the way. As Pride ran passed her without so much as a second glance, Riza scrambled over to Roy.

"Roy!" She instantly became worried as she rolled him onto his back. Blood was pouring from the bullet wound. Slowly, Riza reached to feel for a pulse. After a few moments she pulled away, her hand flying to her mouth. To her horror and shock, there was no pulse.

Roy Mustang was dead.

* * *

**:3  
**


	9. Chapter 8

**GM: Wow, guys! This came a bit later than I expected it to. I've been distracted most of the day. (Watching Brotherhood...FML) So, here's the next chapter. I also miscalculated the events by a hair, so there will actually be a few more chapters left, should I decide to drag certain events out. Anyway, yeah, here's the next chapter.**

* * *

_Edward couldn't help his restlessness. He was walking around through the void, hands shoved deep into his pockets. He hated waiting. He was impatient and full of worry. Everything was just a mess right now, and he actually had no idea as to how long he would have to wait._

_As he walked though, he could hear a different pair of footsteps coming from somewhere up ahead. He started to walk faster, curiosity now piqued. There was nothing else to do other than explore it, right?_

_There was a pillar of blue up ahead that Edward could see. As he drew closer, he stopped and sucked in a breath. "Roy!" His heart skipped a beat as he ran towards the man, practically throwing himself at Roy once he was close enough._

"_Wha—Edward!" Roy was stunned as both he and Edward crashed to the ground. "You're here?" He asked._

_Edward didn't care how uncharacteristic he was acting. All he was feeling was happiness. He wasn't alone here, and Roy was with him. "Yes. How did you get here, Roy?" He asked, moving off of the older man._

"_Well, I..." Roy trailed off, frowning. "I was shot." He replied vaguely._

"_Shot? By who?" Edward pressed, frown etching itself into his face. Who would shoot Roy? Somebody had to be out of their mind to shoot the Flame Alchemist!_

"_It was—," Roy stopped, not wanting to explain. What could he say? That Ed shot him? But no...it hadn't been Ed. Edward would have at least hesitated, homunculus or not. "I...didn't get a good look at his face." Roy lied, finally. _

_Edward didn't look convinced. "Roy, you can tell me." He said. He wanted Roy to trust him. "We've been through tons together; this shouldn't change anything. I want to help."_

_Roy was still unsure. But, he had to trust the blond. "Well, it was—,"_

"_**Why hello Flame Alchemist!"** The disembodied voice was heard loud and clear, **"I sure didn't expect you to be back. It seems you were shot by the homunculus of the Fullmetal Alchemist, correct?"**_

_Roy looked away and tensed as he felt Edward's gaze staring at his back. "Uh..yes..." Roy replied, not wanting to look at Ed's face. "That's right." He confirmed._

"_**Excellent. Not exactly what I had planned, but we can make it work. Anyway, I have to send you back before your body becomes inaccessible. Stick to the last task I gave you, and work with the homunculus to accept you."**_

"_But how will this work in our favor?" Roy asked. How would getting the damned being on his side do any good?_

"_**Well, I plan to restore the Fullmetal Alchemist to his original body. But something of equal value must be obtained. A body for a body. Think about it, Flame Alchemist." **The voice crooned._

_Roy thought about it. When realization finally hit him, his eyes widened. "You want me to convince the homunculus to be the sacrifice." He spoke, voice barely above a whisper._

"_**Bingo!"** The voice answered cheerily. **"Now, go forth and achieve, Flame!"**_

_The gate behind Roy opened up, several small hands coming out to grasp at his soul. Edward's sense slammed back to him as Roy was pulled back._

"_Wait!" He yelled. "I have to tell you something, Roy!" The blond rushed forward, but the gates were closing fast._

_Whatever it was Edward said next, Roy didn't catch as the gates closed shut before him._

* * *

"Clear!" A pair of defibrillators were brought down upon Roy's chest, urging his heart to start again. When the heart monitor started beeping, the crew in the operating room cheered. "Alright, time to get to work, men."

It was a few hours until the good news that Roy was alive and doing well reached Riza's ears. They had been able to save him! However, the wait to actually be able to see him was even longer. So, Riza decided to come back the next morning.

When next morning came, she wasted no time in going to see him.

She entered the hospital room quietly, shutting the door behind her as she went to sit in the chair next to Roy. The man was asleep, lost in whatever dreamland had carried him off. Riza sighed, before reaching over to shake his shoulder. "Sir, are you awake?" She asked.

Roy grunted as his eyes slid open, and he yawned. He looked around the hospital room, before his eyes finally settled on Riza. "Ah, lieutenant." He greeted. Then, everything actually came back to him. "Hey! What happened to central command?" He actually found himself quite desperate to know.

"It's alright, sir. Everything ran smoothly after you were taken to the hospital. We apprehended two of the homunculi, but the Fuhrer has ordered us not to go any further with pursuing the rest of them."

"Lieutenant," Roy spoke, taking her words into account, "was the homunculus that shot me apprehended?" He asked.

Riza's lips tightened into a thin line at the mention of Pride. "Yes sir. We are holding him in a separate cell for interrogation." She replied. She seemed a bit tense, Roy noticed.

"Is something bothering you, lieutenant?" Roy asked, lifting a brow.

Riza frowned. "No sir...it's just that when they were operating you, the doctor said that bullet hadn't even grazed any of your organs. But you were bleeding badly, I was sure that...and you wouldn't have died if you..."

"The gate. The gate said it wasn't my time yet." Roy said, absently.

"Sir?" Riza replied, confused.

"Ah, nothing. Can you bring my uniform to me?" Roy said.

"But sir, you're not even fully recovered." Riza replied, tone blunt.

"I feel well enough." Roy said, eyes just slightly narrowed. Sure, his chest ached, but it was to be expected from a gunshot wound. "I need to ask _Pride_ some questions." He added, a bit darkly. He'd get to the bottom of this. He swung his legs over the side of the hospital bed, before getting to his feet.

"Let's get to Central command."

* * *

As soon as the car pulled up to the building, Roy was out and striding towards the entrance. Riza was right behind him, more so to look out for him than anything. The man was so stubborn. Why was he keeping on with the homunculus? It had hurt him, and killed him! Yet, he still wanted to negotiate with it.

Riza didn't understand. With that knowledge in mind though, she knew she couldn't really, truly say that Roy was nuts. He had his reasons, didn't he? That was enough sometime.

"Lieutenant, guard the door." Roy brought Riza from her thoughts when he said this. Roy then opened the door and slipped inside, letting it shut behind him.

"Hello, _Pride_," Roy spoke with a sneer, "I'd like to ask you a few questions, if I may."

"You!" Pride hissed, head lifting to glare at Roy. "I killed you! You were dead! How the hell are you here?"

Roy kept his distance. The homunculus sounded like Edward...but there was a chilling undertone that held no friendliness in it whatsoever. "What are your plans?" He asked, ignoring the question.

"That's none of your fuckin' business, old man." Pride growled, struggling against the slate of wood that bound his wrists. His feet were restrained as well, keeping him unable to move.

"Oh, but it is," Roy replied evenly, "you see, I work here. In this building. So whatever you plan on doing to it is indeed my business." He added.

Pride just scowled at him. "You're a hardass." He stated bluntly.

Roy lifted a brow. "Jeez, how old are you? Twelve?" He drawled. "Certainly short enough to be."

Those words settled into the homunculus's brain. Whether it was by pure instinct or anger, Roy found himself on his back, knocked to the floor with the small homunculus's hands around his neck. "Take it back!" The blond roared. "I'm not small!"

Despite the position he was in, Roy just smiled sardonically. "Why would I want to do that?" He asked. He could see the homunculus hesitating, trying to understand Roy's actions. Surprisingly, the blond just backed off from him and stared at him almost confusedly.

"Pride, let me offer you a deal," Roy said, getting to his feet and dusting his pants off, "you can either work with us and be my friend, or I can kill you right here and now. I know where your remains are hidden." Of course Roy was bluffing. He wouldn't dare do anything to jeopardize Edward's body. Pride didn't know this, however.

"You bastard..." Pride grunted, getting to his feet as well. "I have people to work with." He said, eyes narrowing. "Why would I join you, anyway? You're the enemy!" He replied. He had people to tell him what was right or wrong, and if they had said that the military was the enemy, then they were the enemy.

"Think for yourself!" Roy said back, glaring at the blond. "Think about it. Don't go by what they've told you. Did we openly attack you? Did your 'family' even provide a reason as to why they wanted to attack us?" Roy was actually pretty damned determined to convince Pride that his views were warped.

"No. We don't _need _a reason." Pride snarled. "If they feel that the military is a threat, they have a right to take them out."

Roy was quiet. "You don't know, Pride. I'm trying to tell you. Just join us. Even for a few days. I promise you, we're not as bad as we seem." He said.

The homunculus sighed. Wasn't it obvious that his views weren't going to change? "3 days." He finally spoke. "You get three days to change my mind. But let me talk to my brother first." Pride then held his arms out, giving Roy an expectant look.

When Roy did nothing, he scowled. "Well? Get me out of this contraption!" He said loudly.

Roy sighed and went over to the door, grabbing the key hanging right above the door. He then went over to Pride, freeing him from the wooden slate. Pride groaned, rubbing his sore wrists. "Take me to Envy."

* * *

Once Pride and Envy were alone together, Pride made very sure that no one outside would hear him. He then turned back to Envy. "I'm going over to their side." He said.

Envy's reaction was immediate with a holler of, "What!" followed by a snarl.

"Shh!" Pride placed a finger to his lips. "Keep it down! I'll act. I'll get close to this Mustang guy, and get information from him. Find the weak points of this building and it's people. I'm under a three day trial, so when it's over, I'll escape and return with whatever information I gather. Then we can put these guys through real hell." It was practically the only option they had. This Mustang guy would be a total idiot and trust him.

Come to think of it, he had no idea why. Why did this guy care? Why did he want him to accept him so badly?

"That's a great idea, Pride." Envy said, a bit shocked. "You're a new homunculus and came up with a plan like that. I'm so proud of you!" Envy smirked, the expression stretching across his entire face.

"You can get out of here, right?" Pride asked, putting his current thoughts to rest.

"Of course. I was waiting to see if you'd be back or not. But you'll be okay." Envy replied. Pride nodded then. "Make a good show, Envy." He told him, before turning and going to the door. He nodded to Envy, who laughed. Envy's form then began changing, morphing into a large monster.**(1)**

The form was humongous, crushing the ceiling above it. Envy's tongue lashed out, curling around Pride's form. It then took a step forwards, the wall and door in front of him crumbling to bits to reveal the hallway. The guards, Riza, and Roy jumped out of the way as the large tongue threw Pride to the wall.

"Ahhh!" Pride screamed as his back made contact, face screwing up in pain. The feeling was a small price to pay in order to make it seem believable.

"I'll kill you, Pride!" Envy raged, "Don't you dare think that mother will approve of this! Have we taught you nothing?"

Riza seemed to find her bearings, shooting at the monster that was Envy. Envy howled, stumbling back and reverting back to his original form. "How dare you!" He hollered, springing forwards toward the lieutenant. Riza fired several more shots, and Envy played along with it. He staggered back with a howl, before turning and fleeing into the cell chamber and busting through the window. Even with several soldiers chasing after him, Envy was gone before they even got outside.

"Pride! Are you hurt?" Roy was now next to the blond, helping him sit up.

"The bastard attacked me!" Pride grunted, anger lacing his tone. "He fucking attacked me! What the hell did _I_ do?" As Pride started going into a fit of rage, Roy placed a calming hand on his shoulder.

"Calm down, Pride. He's gone." Roy was quick to point out the obvious, hoping to distract the young homunculus.

Pride looked at the hand, before slapping it away. "Tch." He stood up, taking a few uneven steps before collapsing against the wall. "That bastard..." He ground out. It was even half-serious. Envy had really hurt him.

"Can't you heal yourself?" Roy asked idly, wrapping his arm around the blond's shoulder's and helping him stand.

"I don't know how. They created me and gave me a short description of what I was supposed to do and how the military was the enemy, then threw me out here to do their bidding." When Pride actually, really thought about it, he was being used. Was he created for the sole purpose of doing the homunculus's bidding? The thought made him sick. No, they were his family, they wouldn't do that! ...Would they?

"Doesn't seem like they were really looking out for you." Roy said.

"Rather ignorant of you to be making assumptions like that." Pride said back, scowling as he did. "So, what now? Envy's beaten me up, I'm stuck with you people, and I'm not even completely sure I want to trust you."

"Well, I do have some paperwork I need to do." Roy replied.

"Sir, with all due respect, I was against the idea of you coming here. I would much rather you go home and rest." Riza said, stoic mask in place.

"...Oh. Well then, I guess you'll come with me to my house." Roy said, shrugging his shoulders. There weren't many places he could put the homunculus, honestly. The housing units were only available to soldiers. He looked over at the blond, brows furrowing.

"What the hell are you lookin' at, Colonel Bastard?" Pride asked, brows slanting.

"What?" Roy blinked owlishly. "What did you just call me?" He asked.

"Jeez, you need to get your ears checked. I said Colonel Bastard, you bastard." Pride didn't seem to get the importance of the title. Instead, he pulled away from Roy. "You're getting too touchy feely. I'll walk on my own, sheesh..." The blond shoved his hands into the leather pants pockets, walking ahead. Roy just stared after the homunculus, eyes wide.

_'He acts...a lot like Edward...'_

* * *

**(1) That dragon/lizard form Envy has in Brotherhood...y'know...the one with all of the half-bodies coming from his back.**_  
_


End file.
